Weekly > Interviews
Ann Scott
Follkowing in the rich tradition of Irish singers is Ann Scott, a talented singer and songwriter who is preparing to release her second album We’re Smiling on the 2nd February.
The album follows on from her debut release Poor Horse, an album that picked up awards and fans in Ireland a plenty on it’s release. For me her latest album is even stronger and when I caught up with her recently it seems she agrees herself, as you’ll read in the below interview.
As well as having her album coming out she also has a tour of the UK playing the following dates:
30 Jan 2009 20:00 Fuzzy Face @ The Sun Hotel Hitchin, Hertfordshire,
1 Feb 2009 20:00 The Musician Leicester, Midlands
2 Feb 2009 20:00 The Squirrel Coventry
4 Feb 2009 20:00 Grapevine @ Bedfords Norwich Norwich, East
5 Feb 2009 20:00 Native Tongue Surrey
6 Feb 2009 20:00 The Good Ship London, London and South East
7 Feb 2009 19:30 Blue Cat cafe Manchester
8 Feb 2009 19:30 The Tackeroo, Hednesford, nr Cannock Hednesford
12 Feb 2009 20:00 Whelans Upstairs Dublin, Dublin
28 Feb 2009 20:00 Brixton Windmill London
Your new album We’re Smiling is released on the 2nd February, do you get nervous about these sort of things as far as worrying about press and fans reaction?
I do kind of – especially being on the road. When you release an album independently the book stops with you, so you take full responsibility for the music as well as the um…business model.
Nervousness will usually manifest when I’m late for a gig and trying to find a parking space in a city I’ve never been to and in a rental car in which the indicator and headlights system consistently swap sides of the steering wheel conspiring to bring about my untimely demise.
I’m hoping sat nav will come to the rescue this time and also that lots of people will clamour to buy the record so that I’ll be able to pay a driver and write my memoirs on the road instead, or at least balance the books at the end of the trip!
Did you feel more pressure recording the second album after the success of the first?
No that didn’t happen to me. If anything the second album came out more easily than the first. It was laborious and there was a lot of painstaking work involved, but there was no nervous feelings of ‘coming out’ about it. Probably because I trusted the musical collaborators and felt in control of the process.
Anyway, I like to think of each album as ‘building’ on what came before rather than ‘following up’.
What can you tell us about We’re Smiling and it’s lyrical themes and what you were trying to achieve when you started recording?
I started recording We’re Smiling with a bunch of songs written on guitar, keyboards and mandola, which I reckoned had a common thread running through them. Then it progressed each one song by song and day by day, until two years later the digipaks finally came back from manufacturing.
Lyrically I was trying to capture snippets of those inner arguments, which go on in the back of our minds all the time. will I, won’t I, what’s wrong what’s right? He loves me, he loves me not etc.
I didn’t come up with any of the answers mind you!
The album seems to be a big step forward to me when I compare the two, would you say that’s fair and if so why do you think you’ve been able to make that leap?
Before recording my first album I made a lot of different demos of the songs. There were a lot of false starts and studio trials and stopping and starting and stagnating and abandoning projects. When I finally got to France to begin work on Poor Horse in Blackbox studios I had outgrown some of the material and was skittish to get on with it.
This produced some really raw and frantic and some slipshod moments on Poor Horse. By the time that I got to We’re Smiling there was definitely a step forward in terms of control. And I suppose as producers, Karl Odlum and I were both trying ourselves out on the first record and getting to the second one, had grown up more and learnt a heck more about recording and singing and arrangements.
Weblinks
Add to favouritesIrish singers seem to be really flourishing at the moment, particularly on the back of success for Gemma Hayes and Cara Dillon, have they been an inspiration to you in any way?
Yeah, Ireland is a real melting pot of talent and ideas and genres. We are kind of sandwiched between the UK and the USA with Iceland above and the rest of Europe around and all the influences of our own deep folk and story telling traditions simmering away so its not surprising that we churn out the likes of The Swell Season, Gemma Hayes or Damien rice. Not to mention U2, Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor, My Bloody Valentine, Shane McGowan…we have a high standard of maverick talent and you can’t not be inspired by that.
How easy or restrictive are you finding trying to break through in the UK but being based in Ireland?
Well, the independent route is tough no matter where you take it. While Ireland is great for being inspired and nurtured as a musician it is not a major market by any means. In many ways I have to start from scratch here in the UK but that is fun in its own way – I’ll let you know how easy it is to break through pending my next quarterly review.
You have a UK tour coming up at the start of February which I believe will be you performing acoustically, is that more nerve wracking and what can we expect from these shows?
I really love to play live, with and without a band. The acoustic performances are possibly less nerve-wracking but much more work ! If I can hustle an electric here and there that will be nice too. I find solo performances allow you to drift more into your own space and open up more and be spontaneous in a way that you can’t when you have safety in numbers on the stage and a rehearsed and ordered arrangement for every song.
What would be your dream line up to play in either as a support artist or as part of a supergroup?
I once dreamt I was on stage with a choir of barking dogs as percussion and elephants trumpeting away in a big sea of reverb, and wild cats on strings. It sounded more like a nightmare than a dream so – you’ve to be careful what you wish for.
In between your own albums you’ve also contributed to other peoples projects, can you tell us a little bit about what that involved and how they came about?
I’m a stickler about doing my own things, my own way, so working on other people’s music is like taking a holiday for me. Working intensely on solo projects I can start to feel a bit stuffed up and I tend to be very hands on. Side projects are often a much needed release or excuse to indulge a musical side which wouldn’t usually be the main focus of an Ann Scott album.
The Cracklebox electronic collaboration was a bit like that. I like the music of Aphex twin and Matmos and occasionally do some noodling on the laptop or this great little synth I have – but I wouldn’t feel qualified to make a whole album’s worth. So it was a real treat to guest vocal on that song without getting bogged down in making a whole album of electronica and not feeling qualified for the job.
Final question….the orange eyelashes, is that a secret desire to be ginger that you are holding or is there another reason for them?
Ah the eyelashes. Ok, well, you should see also my nine inch nails, cherry tattoos and feather wings !….If it doesn’t all work out with the album release I’m going to launch my own indie couture…so Prada watch out.
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